Irish leader: EU reluctant to give UK further Brexit delay

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Tuesday, July 2, 2019. European Union leaders continued a third day of talks to seek a breakthrough in a diplomatic fight over who should be picked for a half dozen of jobs at top EU institutions. (Geoffroy van der Hasselt, Pool Photo via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s prime minister says European Union leaders would feel a “great deal of reluctance” about giving Britain another delay to Brexit.

Leo Varadkar said Monday that many EU countries felt “very frustrated” and would only postpone Britain’s departure date for “a very good reason,” such as a U.K. general election.

Britain’s EU departure, long scheduled for March 29, was delayed after the U.K. Parliament rejected the divorce deal agreed between Prime Minister Theresa May’s government and the bloc.

It is currently scheduled for Oct. 31.

May announced her resignation last month. The two lawmakers vying to replace her, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, both vow to take Britain out of the EU, with or without a divorce agreement.

Most economists say a no-deal Brexit would plunge the U.K. into recession.

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